Jake had been called down from his final class of the day to the nurse's office and he was visibly worried as he knocked on her door. Gia had come back after lunch looking relatively disgruntled and shaken and Noah had skipped class. It wasn't like the blue Ranger to skip out on anything academic, so Jake was sure that whatever happened had been troublesome.

The nurse answered the door and then stepped out. The room was dark, but Jake could still see Noah resting on a bed. He went to his best friend's side and touched his shoulder.

"You okay?"

Noah rolled over and sat up in the bed. He was a bit groggy. He had spent the afternoon napping and so it would take a while before he was wide awake again. Jake, sympathetic to his best friend, helped him up to his feet and kept the lights turned off. He knew how much it would hurt to turn them back on. As he helped Noah up, he got a look at his best friend. He was surprised to see, even in the dark, that Noah's face was swollen and there were darker patches around his left eye, his cheek, and his jaw.

"Who did this?" Jake asked and he could feel himself tensing up. "I thought this stopped after middle school…"

"No one, don't worry about it," Noah wanted to talk to Gia before anyone else, knowing how conservative she could be. He didn't want to say something and then regret it when Gia came hunting him down for spreading lies. He had his theories, but he was smart enough to know that it was best to keep his mouth shut until they were proven true.

"Dude, you can't protect them like this…"

"I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time," Noah shrugged his shoulders. "It's not going to happen again."

"I'll make sure of that," Jake walked side by side with Noah down the hall and then to his locker to collect his things. As he packed up all of Noah's books in his bags, Troy came over.

"It's not true, is it?" he asked Noah and then hissed when he saw the blue Ranger's face, "The whole school's spreading rumours. Gia…"

"No she didn't," Noah shook his head. "She's just… Look, it's complicated."

"Some kids saw you and her getting caught by Ms. Chesterfield," Troy said, "That's not the full story, right?"

"Gia?" Jake asked. He put Noah's bag on his shoulder and then looked to the blue Ranger, "What were you doing with Gia?"

"I just… can I just talk to her myself first?" Noah asked. "Look, you guys, it's complicated."

"Noah, don't lie to me, dude," Jake placed his hand on Noah's shoulder, "Alright, yeah, my major crush on her distracts me sometimes, but if she hurt you, I'm taking your side all the way. But… uh, why did she hurt you."

"She didn't… Look, I stuck my nose where it didn't belong. Can we just…"

"So she did? She snapped at you?"

"It's nothing, guys…"

"Yeah right," Jake passed Noah's bag over to Troy before he stormed off down the hall. He found Gia closing up her locker and shoved her, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Jake!" Noah and Troy rushed down the hall, with Noah trying again to break up a fight. This time, though, he was sure not to leave with any more bruises. Gia hadn't laid a hand on him, and Jake never would (except while under Beezara's spell, of course).

Gia looked to Jake, confused by his hostility and then she spotted Noah, saw what had come of his face from the beating he took for her and put two and two together. She shrugged and pushed Jake away. "Just drop it, okay. It happened, get over it."

"Get over it?" Jake asked, "Look what you did? What's Noah ever done to you?"

"I've got to go…"

"No," Jake grabbed Gia's wrist to hold her back. She didn't know what came over her, but she spun around, shoved him into the locker and put her hand on his throat.

"Let go."

Jake released Gia's hand and she let him go. She picked up her bag from the floor and walked off. All eyes were on her as she left, especially the eyes of Ms. Chesterfield.

"Now?" she growled as she looked to the vice-principal.

"See you tomorrow in my office, Miss Moran. Don't be late. You're very fortunate Mrs. Smith could make it down on such short notice."

Gia stormed out of the school, leaving behind a very confused and somewhat troubled crowd. At that very moment, Emma and Jordan turned the corner, both laughing about something Jordan had said. They approached the boys, all smiles, until they saw Noah's face.

"What happened?" Emma let go of Jordan's hand to check out Noah's face for herself. He winced as she touched it and she pulled back, "Painful, huh? No wonder you missed last period."

"C'mon, Noah, I'll buy you a smoothie at Ernie's," Jake gently grabbed his best friend's arm and pulled him away. Noah looked sympathetically to Emma as he was dragged off. Emma turned to Troy, knowing something was wrong.

"What happened?"

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "I couldn't explain it if I tried, but I think it would be best if you talked to Gia."

"I… but…" Emma turned her gaze to Jordan for a moment, "We were going out tonight."

"Just… talk to her soon."

"We'll stop by her place," Jordan insisted. He wrapped his arms comfortingly around Emma's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze, "Just check up on her."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You're going to spend the night worrying about her if we don't. I don't mind, really."

"Thanks," Emma smiled and then turned to Troy, "Is there anything I need to know?"

"Like I said, I couldn't explain it if I tried. I'm going to Ernie's with the guys, but that doesn't mean I'm taking sides. I just want to make sure Noah's okay."

"Uh, okay," Emma said. Troy shifted his bag higher on his shoulder and then walked off. Emma looked to Jordan nervously. "I think we missed something."